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THE SNOW MAN 




NEW FAIRY STORIES 


FOR 

T GEANDCHILDEEN. 



GEORGE KEIL. 



NEW YORK: 


D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 

443 & 445 BROADWAY. 

LONDON: 16 LITTLE BRITAIN. 

1861 . 


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44 - 10253 


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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1SC0, by 
D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 

In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 

District of New York. 






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CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


The Snow Man, . . . .5 

The Stork, ..... 22 

The Blind Child, . . , . * . 33 

Nack’s Shadow, . . . .42 

The Two Friends, . .63 


I 







t 


















































































THE SNOW MAN. 


Ah! it was so glorious out in the garden! 
The snow lay almost half a yard high, the sun 
shone so bright and clear, that everything flashed 
and glittered like precious stones; the very air 
shone and sparkled, as if some one had scattered 
diamond dust through it. The branches of the 
apple and pear trees seemed covered with sugar- 
candy; it looked as if you might break off a 
stick of candy and eat it. The branches of the 
larches and firs had put on coats and cloaks of 
snow, on account of the severe cold ; and each 
rose stem had on a white nightcap, so that it 
should not freeze, and that was so pretty. Ah ! 
it was so wonderfully beautiful ! 


6 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


Paul and Arthur ran out. They sprang mer- 
rily round in the soft snow, and chased each 
other ; laughing loud if either fell into the deep 
snow, and looked as white as millers. The dog 
jumped too, and barked and rolled with delight, 
scratching with his feet, so that the snow flew all 
around them. “ Ah ! I wish I were a dog, and 
then I could roll so too ! ” said Paul. 

They brought their little sister Lily out, wrap- 
ped her in warm shawls, placed her in their 
little sled, harnessed themselves to it, and were a 
pair of horses. 

Pat ! pat ! now they went on in a gallop ! 
The dog sprang before them, and barked ; and 
they ran through the walks backward and for- 
ward, and across, between all the flower-beds, 
till Lily was frightened and shrieked, when a 
crow, from the top of a high fir tree, threw a great 
snowball down on her, which covered her all 


THE SHOW MAN. 


1 


over with snow. But her brothers laughed aloud, 
and the crow laughed too, a Caw ! caw ! ” 

“Now I am tired,” said Paul at last; and 
Arthur said, “ My fingers are cold.” 

They took their little sister out of the sled 
and carried her into the warm parlor. But 
the boys would not stay in the house ; they 
rubbed their hands with snow till they were 
red and warm, as if they had held them by the 
stove; then they ran off again. Now they 
made snowballs and threw them at each 
other ; then they rolled a ball of snow up and 
down, till it grew larger and larger, so that 
at last they could not roll it any longer, it became 
so heavy. 

“ Now let us make a snow man ! ” said Paul to 
his brother. 

“ Oh yes ! a snow man ! a snow man ! ” shouted 
Arthur ; and so they rolled great lumps of snow, 


8 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


and placed one on the other, and when they conld 
not reach any higher, they stood np on a bench, 
and lifted np a great ball and placed it on the 
trunk, for a head to their man. Then they 
stuck in a couple of black coals for eyes ; and in- 
stead of a mouth, a great wide, red brick; and 
they put a thick stick in his hand. Then the 
snow man was finished, and he stood directly be- 
fore the parlor window, as if he wished to look 
into the room. 

Little Lily saw him quite near her, as she 
came to the window. u Ah! what a splendid 
great man!” she cried out, and clapped her 
hands, and it seemed exactly as if the snow man 
smiled with his great mouth, when Lily praised 
him. 

The next day the boys ornamented their 
snow man still more. They painted his cheeks 
red with the juice of elderberries, which they 


THE SNOW MAN. 


9 


gathered from the cold bushes, so that he should 
not look so pale ; and set a straw hat on his head, 
with a green pine branch in it. Then they put 
red thorn berries in his white snow coat, instead 
of buttons. 

Now he looked quite well, and Lily liked him 
so much, that she could not go away from the 
window. 

And both the brothers had great fun with 
him ; they jumped and danced around him, sing- 
ing, 

“ Snow man, snow man, white as chalk, 

With the fresh, green hemlock stalk, 

Look not idly on the ground, 

Dance with us a merry round, 

Do not wear such stupid air, 

Tralla la ! trallala la ! ” 

But he looked quite serious, and would not move 
at all ; to be- sure, it would not have been proper 
for him! 


10 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


New snow had fallen, and then the coat of the 
snow man looked as downy as a bear-skin, and 
one of the boys said to him, “ Now you are well 
protected without, and we must see that you have 
something warm within. “ So saying, he put a 
little clay pipe in his mouth, in which he placed 
a little taper, which smoked, and looked exactly 
as if the snow man were smoking a pipe of to- 
bacco. 

This was a new amusement for them; but 
after a few days the boys were tired of him. 

“Let us bombard him,” Arthur said. So they 
made a pile of snowballs, and began to throw 
them at him, and sang at the same time — 

“ Snow man — ah, you coward wight, 

Though so big you dare not fight ! 

Oh ! you blockhead, now be quick, 

Use your heavy oaken stick ; 

If you won’t defend your snout, 

Huzza ! huzza ! you must look out.” 


THE SHOW MAH. 


11 


And the snowballs flew like shot around him. 
They meant to snowball him to death. 

It was fortunate for the snow man that Lily 
came by. “ Oh ! do let the poor man live,” she 
cried, to her brothers ; and she wept and petition- 
ed so for him, that they stopped snowballing, 
and gave him to her. 

“ ISTow, he must be your husband,” said the 
boys ; “ you ought to marry him.” 

“Ah, yes! if I were large enough,” sighed 
Lily. 

The two boys ran down to the river, which 
flowed by the garden, and that was now frozen 
fast ; it was as smooth as a mirror. 

They played on the ice as boys usually do, 
and troubled themselves no more about the snow 
man. 

But Lily was constant to him, and came every 
day to make him a visit. 


12 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


“ You must almost freeze, you poor man ; it is 
so cold to-day,” she said once to him. 

“ Ah, no ! honored miss,” answered the snow 
man. “ Outwardly I cannot freeze ; only see my 
thick coat ; but I am so cold inside — ugh ! ugh ! 
I only feel a little bit warm, when I look at you, 
honored miss.” 

“ Why do you call me so? ” said Lily, “ I am 
only a little child.” 

“ You will soon grow large, miss,” said the 
snow man. “I know my indebtedness to you. 
I have not yet thanked you for saving my life, 
when those wild boys threatened to snowball me 
to death.” 

“ They will not do that again ” said Lily ; “ you 
belong to me now, and are my husband ; ah, if I 
were only large! But are you not tired now 
with standing there so long, and hungry too ? ” 

“ I rest on my thick stick,” answered the 


THE SNOW MAN. 


13 


snow man ; “ and as to hunger, my noble lady 
you see that I am a contented man, and can put 
up with a little. It is rather scant here ! ” 

“ Lily, Lily,” called her mother. And Lily 
ran off, calling to her snow man — “Do not be 
anxious, I will bring you something to eat every 
day.” 

And she kept her word. She divided her 
breakfast and supper with him, and even her 
dolls received only half their portion. 

She put every thing on a little plate, and 
placed it before him ; and when she made him a 
visit the next day, if she found the plate empty, 
she thought it must have tasted good to her dear 
snow man. 

But at heart the snow man led a very sad 
and tiresome life. He stood so solitary there, 
day and night ; the two boys who used to jump 
and dance around him, were no longer to be seen. 


14 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


And even little Lily came out but for a mo- 
ment, it had become so cold. The dog alone 
visited him, and he did not bark and growl as he 
had formerly done, when he came near ; but one 
cannot talk very sensibly with a dog, so the snow 
man was left almost wholly alone. 

But the night, ah! it was still worse then! 
It required some courage, too, to stand alone in 
the garden, all through the dark night. It was 
so gloomy in the solitude, and the poor snow man 
often shut his eyes in fear, and trembled and 
shook, when a bough creaked, or a lump of snow 
fell from the top of a tree. At last morning 
came, and his trouble was more easy to be borne. 
The crows came flying by, and ate his breakfast 
up away from him, and tried to peck out his 
black eyes. He could hardly protect himself 
from them. 

“Most honorable sir,” said he once to the dog, 


THE SNOW MAN. 


15 


a if you would only be so kind as to stay with 
me through the night, when it is so fearful and 
solitary, and chase the crows away in the morn- 
ing, who steal my breakfast, and want to peck 
out my eyes ! ” 

The dog laughed, and said, “ You are as big 
as a giant, and yet you are afraid of those miser- 
able little crows. You have no courage in your 
heart.” 

“ Ugh ! ” sighed the snow man, and the dog 
continued : “ What is that to me ? I must stay 
in and guard the house at night, but as to the 
crows-, we can soon cure that ! ” 

So the dog came every morning, as soon as it 
was light, to drive away the crows, and they did 
not venture to touch the breakfast again; but 
now the dog ate it all up himself. 

In the night, the snow man felt a great terror, 
which ran through all his limbs. Something 


16 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


rustled, and crackled and scratched, near him ; he 
could not distinguish what it was, because there 
was a thick cloud over the moon. He would 
gladly have run away, if he had not been too 
clumsy. So he was obliged to wait till the cloud 
had passed over ; then he recognized, to his great 
horror, two sharp peaks which were pointed at 
him, as if to do him some harm. 

“ Help, help ! ” the snow man shrieked, in his 
terror, and ventured a stolen glance at the fearful 
sight, which he now saw was a pair of long ears, 
which moved before him. The ears belonged to 
a hare, who sat in the garden bed, and scraped 
the cabbage leaves out from the snow. The snow 
man and the hare stood just opposite each other, 
and each shook and trembled before the other. 

But the hare came to herself first, and said : 
“ Do not harm me, dear sir, out in the fields ; the 
snow is so deep, I cannot find a single blade of 


THE SHOW MAH. 


17 


grass. For three days I have been hungry, and 
I have come across the ice into the garden, to 
gnaw a little bit of cabbage stalk. I will never 
do it again, as long as I live ! ” 

The snow man, who had now regained his 
courage, and who had a very tender heart, an- 
swered at once : “ Eat till you are satisfied, you 
poor thing, but I would advise you never to ven- 
ture here again ! ” 

The only joy the poor man possessed, was in 
the evening, when the lamps were lighted in the 
parlor. Then he could look in, and see as far 
as the wall, where little Lily played with her 
doll, and then he sighed and said : “ Ah, if I were 
only in there with her.” But soon the servant 
girl came, and drew the curtains, then all his joy 
was at an end. 

It had now grown so cold, that Lily could not 
venture out, and the windows were covered thick 


18 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


with frost, so that she could not see her snow man 
any more, and that was such a grief to her. She 
had to play with her dolls all the time now, and 
she had not thought of them, for a long time be- 
fore. They had grown so ugly, and cried and 
screamed so badly, that Lily was, sometimes, very 
angry. “ Do you keep still,” she said to them, 
“or else I will bring the snow man in here.” 

The dolls had such a great dread of the snow 
man, that they were as still as mice. 

Once, Lily climbed on a chair, and breathed 
on the window pane, and then she could look 
through the little hole in the frost, and could see 
her dear snow man once again. 

He stood quite stiff and firm, looking at the 
window. The wind waved the branch of ever- 
green in his hat, and it looked exactly as if he 
nodded to Lily. Then she felt so delighted that 
he had not forgotten her. 


THE SHOW MAH. 


19 


“Mamma” said she to her mother, a will you 
let me have the snow man in here, in the warm 
room, because I cannot venture to go out ? ” 

“ It will not do, my dear,” said her mother, “it 
is too warm for him, he would melt, and then the 
whole room would be overflowed with water ! ” 
So Lily was obliged to be contented, and wait 
till it was warmer out of doors. 

And it was soon warm ! Spring came ; the 
snow was all melted in the garden, but the snow 
man stood stiff and straight before the window, 
on the green moss. 

“How are you now?” said Lily, when she 
ventured out the first time. “I will come and see 
you every day now, only keep up your spirits ! 
Soon the flowers will come out of the ground, and 
the leaves on to the trees ; then I will make you 
a beautiful wreath, and you can take off your 
coat, because it will be too warm for you. Then 


20 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


we will go to walk together, out in the green 
forest — that will be splendid ! ” 

“ Ugh ! ” sighed the snow man, and the sweat 
stood in thick drops on his forehead, and tears 
fell from his eyes on his coat. It was the thaw ! 

The poor snow man was indeed ill ; he had 
the consumption, for he grew thinner and smaller 
every day, and withered away. He was no taller 
now than little Lily, and stood just up to her 
eyes. He looked at her so fixedly with his great 
black eyes — they had not grown any smaller — 
that she was sometimes afraid of him. 

“ Man,” said Lily to him, “you must not glare 
at me so, or else I shall be afraid of you ! ” 

“Crick, crack!” it sounded from the river 
and rolled like a continuous thunder clap; the 
ice was breaking up. 

“What is that ? ” asked the trembling Lily. 


THE SNOW MAN. 


21 


“ Death ! ” sobbed the snow man, u now he 
comes fox’ me.” 

Then he rolled his eyes, and twisted his broad 
month quite awry, threw his stick away, and 
bowed down to the ground. 

Such a fearful horror seized Lily, that she ran 
shrieking away. 

The next morning the snow man had disap- 
peared, and there was only a little heap of snow 
on the place where he stood. 

But a snow drop with its white bells stretched 
its green leaves out from the snow. Lily watched 
and tended it, and thought of her dear snow 
man. 


THE STORK. 


w Now look out !” said old Catherine to the 
two children, “now look out when the Stork 
comes, he will bring yon a little brother or 
sister ! ” 

So she led the children out in the garden, and 
they sat on a bank under the great pear tree, and 
looked incessantly at the sky, not to miss seeing 
the stork, and sang this song for him to hear : 

“ Stork, Stork, long bone, 

Bring a little sister home, 

Bring her from the alder pool, 

Where she slumbers sweet and cool. 

Find for us the prettiest one, 

Bear her lightly to our home.” 


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THE STOKK. 


23 


They almost stared their eyes out of their heads, 
and sang till they were quite hoarse, but still the 
storks did not come. 

“ Oh ! if the stork would only come ! ” said 
little Elsie. 

“ He will soon be here ! ” said her brother 
Christian, u and then he will bring us each a pair 
of sugar trumpets ; a great big one for you, and 
a much larger one for me, because I am the 
eldest ! ” 

u What are you doing here ? ” cried out their 
neighbor Peter, thrusting his head through the 
hedge. 

“We are waiting for the stork, who is going 
to bring us a little sister,” said Christian. 

“ You silly children ! ” laughed Peter scorn- 
fully, “ don’t you believe that ; you may wait a 
long time. I know better where the children 
come from : the dear Lord brings them at night, 


24 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


and lays them in the cradle himself, and there 
they are ! ” 

Meantime, the stork came flying over the 
garden ; he bore a great piece of white cloth in 
his bill, which he had carried off from some yard 
where it had been laid out to whiten, and he flew 
with it into his nest, that stood on the chimney. 

“ The stork, the stork ! ” shouted the children, 
and Christian called out, over the hedge, to the in- 
credulous Peter : “ There, now you see him, and 
he has brought the infant’s clothes with him.” 

Peter was quite thoughtful, for he had cer- 
tainly seen the clothes. 

Then old Catherine came to the door, and 
cried out, u Come in quick, your little sister is 
here ; but the stork liked her so well, he wanted 
to keep her ! ” 

The children ran into the house. There in 
the cradle lay the prettiest little sister in the 


THE STOKK. 


25 


world, with a little red face, and eyes that were 
as blue as corn-flowers. 

“ And the stork brought these for you,” said 
old Catherine, showing two great sugar trumpets 
on each side of the bed. 

But the children were so happy, they could 
not think of the sugar trumpets, they were so de- 
lighted with their new little sister. 

But now they longed for a little brother, too ; 
and the next morning, when the stork sat on the 
nest, they ran out, and sang to him : 

“ Stork, stork, long bone, 

Bring a little brother home ; 

Take him from the alder pool, 

Where he’s sleeping, soft and cool. 

Bring the prettiest one you see, 

Bring him to the house for me!” 

The stork listened attentively, cocked his 

head on one side, and examined the little singer; 
2 


26 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


then he made a low bow, laid his bill back on 
one side, and flapped his wings. He meant to 
say something to them, but they could not under- 
stand him, for they did not know the stork lan- 
guage. 

The children sang the song every morning, 
but the stork did not bring them any little 
brother ; and scornful Peter did not dare go by 
the house, he felt so ashamed because he had 
called the good stork silly. 

No ! no little brother came ; but after four 
weeks, four little heads with black bills peeped 
out of the stork’s nest. The stork had brought 
four little children for itself ; they were so 
short and dumpy, they could not stand on their 
feet, and so only their heads peeped out of the 
nest. Gradually, as the little storks grew larger, 
you could see more of them. They could look 
around a little and flap with their wings, and 


THE STORK. 


27 


they did so. Soon they began to climb ont of 
their nest, and to walk round on the ridgepole and 
roof of the house. They looked quite awkward 
and uncouth as they tottered this way and that. 
Once, the smallest of the storks went a little too 
near the edge of the house ; it made a false step 
and fell, then slid down the roof, and bang ! there 
it lay on the ground at the children’s feet. It 
tried to raise its wings and fly, but it did not 
know how ; besides, it had sprained one wing in 
the fall from the house. When it found that it 
could not escape, it knelt in despair before the 
two children, and looked supplicatingly at them, 
as if it would say : “ Have mercy on me ! ” 

Then Christian said to him : “ Be good and 
stand upright, I shall not hurt you, I cannot let 
any one kneel to me. You can live with us, and 
when your parents and brothers and sisters fly 
away to a warmer climate, you can go into a 


28 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


pleasant room witli us, and lie under the stove ; 
there you will be comfortable. But you must be 
sure and tell your father that he must bring us a 
little brother when he comes again. Do you 
hear ? ” 

The children watched and tended the lame 
stork as well as they could. They caught frogs 
and mice for him, and gave him bits of meat from 
the kitchen, so that he was not in want, he had 
enough to eat. And when it grew cold, they 
took him into a warm room with them, where he 
conducted himself with so much propriety, that 
even the cross poodle dog let him eat out of his 
plate every day, and formed quite a friendship 
for him. And that was such an honor for a 
stork. 

So the winter passed away, and when spring 
came, and the trees were green, and all the birds 
returned, and sang, and the swallows floated once 


THE STORK. 


29 


more through, the sky, then the storks came back 
and took possession of their old nest again. 

The young stork saw them come, and sat on 
the ridgepole to receive them, for now he could 
fly again. How delighted the old storks were 
when they saw their child grown so large and so 
improved ! There was no end to their wing flap- 
pings, they had so much to tell; they talked 
Egyptian to each other, and no one could under- 
stand that. 

The young stork wished to return again to 
the nest where he had lived before. But the old 
ones would not allow that. “ It won’t do,” said 
the old father, “the nest is too small for two 
families, if you should marry. You certainly see 
there is but one story, and I must sit on the 
ridgepole and be incommoded myself, when the 
children grow large.” So he showed him a nice 


30 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


spot on the roof of the barn, where he thought 
he might bnilcl to his taste. 

And the stork followed his advice. He built 
his nest on the roof of the barn, and when it was 
quite ready, he brought a lovely young stork 
maiden from the neighborhood as a bride to 
his home, and commenced keeping house. 

Summer came : from each of the stork nests, 
stork children put out their heads ; but they had 
not brought any little brother to the two chil- 
dren, although they had sung the song often 
enough. 

“ It is really mean and ungrateful of the old 
stork father,” said Christian, quite angrily, “ not 
to bring us a little brother, when we took such 
good care of Ms child. ” 

One time, when the children were asleep in 
bed, — it was very early in the morning, just at 
sunrise, — old Catherine roused them from their 


THE STORK. 


31 


slumber, calling out: “Wake up! the stork 
brought you a little brother last night ! ” 

Ah, how quickly the children sprang from 
their bed. It was true, a little brother lay in the 
cradle, and three sugar trumpets peeped out of the 
pillows ; the smallest was for the little brother. 

Christian ran directly to neighbor Peter to 
tell him the news, and he called out to him from 
a great distance : “ Last night the stork brought 
us a little brother.” 

But the rude Peter said : “ Now you see they 
have imposed upon you. The storks stay in their 
nests at night, and cannot bring you any little 
brother. The dear Lord brought your brother, 
and laid him there in the cradle ” Then he said 
no more. 

The little brother grew larger and larger 
every day ; the young storks in both of the nests 
grew and became large storks. 


32 


NEW FAIRY TALES. 


When autumn came, and they assembled to- 
gether, to journey into warm countries, then the 
young stork threw an egg and a beautiful great 
feather out of his nest, down on the hay below, 
in gratitude to the two children who had taken 
such care of him. The egg was for Christian and 
the feather for Elsie. 


















THE BLItfD CHILD. 


»■ 







THE BLIND CHILD. 


It is so pleasant to see tlie clear sunshine, the 
green trees, the bright flowers, the moon, and 
the golden stars ; but it is still pleasanter to look 
into the face of a kind friend, with its loving eyes. 
Little Paul could not see any of this ; he was 
blind, and it was always night around him. Ah ! 
how sad and solitary must his life have been, in 
an eternal night ! 

His mother was poor and his father was dead ; 
the last words that he spoke to the weeping 
mother, when his eyes closed in death, were, 
“Trust in God! He never forsakes His chil- 
dren ! ” and he was dead. 


34 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


The poor mother was now quite alone in the 
world, with her blind child, — quite alone, for she 
had neither friends nor relatives. She had no 
money either ; she was obliged to support herself 
by sewing, but she worked gladly, night and day, 
for her poor child. She loved her blind child so 
dearly ; perhaps more than a mother would love 
one who sees, because it needed her care more. 
Sometimes she did not come home through the 
long day ; she was obliged to work in strangers’ 
houses from early in the morniug till late at night. 
Then the child was quite alone. But he was not 
quite forsaken; good Mrs. Martha, whose cham- 
ber-door was directly opposite his mother’s, came 
across several times a day to look after little 
Paul. She was such a kind old woman 1 But 
she could not stay long with him, she had to spin 
wool industriously to keep herself from hunger. 
But Merry, the old dog, and Bibi, a canary bird, 


THE BLIND CHILD. 


35 


were with him all the time, and kept him com- 
pany. The canary bird sat on his pillow, and 
sang beautiful songs to him. And when little 
Paul let his arm fall over the side of the bed, 
Merry ran to him and licked his hand ; and if he 
wanted to rise, the intelligent dog grasped him 
by the dress, and led him up and down the room, 
so that he should not strike the table or chairs. 
That was such a nice walk ! 

The pleasantest time for the child was in the 
evening, when his mother came home ; then his 
real happiness commenced. His mother took her 
little work-table, and placed it by the bed ; and 
while she sewed, told him of the glories of heaven, 
and of the loving God and the holy angels ; and 
amused him with stories, till late in the night, till 
her eyes shut from fatigue. Often Paul asked: 
“ Mother, is the night almost over ? ” That cut 
his mother to the heart, for she knew not what 


36 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


to answer him. “ When we get to heaven,” she 
would say, “ the night will be over, but the eye 
of God can look through the darkness, and can 
see you and watch over you ! ” 

So they lived together till Paul was six years 
old. Then one morning his mother complained 
that she felt ill, and could not rise. She was 
obliged to keep her bed the whole day, for she 
had a violent fever. The next day her sickness 
increased so much that she lost her consciousness. 
Old Martha faithfully watched her, and took care 
of the boy, and after a few days, as she grew no 
better, she went for a doctor, and brought him 
into the sick room. The doctor was a kind, good 
man; he felt the pulse of the Sick woman, in- 
quired about her illness, and thoughtfully shook 
his head. It is always a bad sign, when a doctor 
shakes his head. And when he saw the boy 
lying in his little bed, he said: “He must be 


THE BLIND CHILD. 


37 


moved immediately from this room, for his mo- 
ther is very sick indeed ! Has she no relatives 
nor friends where they can carry him ? ” 

u She has no relatives — nobody troubles them- 
selves about the poor, and Paul is blind ! ” old 
Martha answered. 

Then the doctor took the child out of his little 
bed and carried him to the window, placed him 
on his lap, and looked intently into his sightless 
eyes. Then, without saying a word, he took the 
child on his arm, and bore him across the street 
into a large, handsome house. Many rich people 
lived there, who were friends of the physician, 
and who gladly acceded to his request, that the 
child should remain there till his mother was 
better. Emma, a young lady in the family, six- 
teen years of age, undertook the care of the child, 
and the kind physician visited him daily ; after a 
short time when Paul asked continually for his 


38 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


mother, he promised to take him to her, if he 
would sit quite still: his eyes were ill, and he 
wanted to cure them. 

The boy promised, and kept his word out of 
love to his mother. The doctor, with a sharp in- 
strument, took the dark veil away, which had 
prevented the boy’s seeing God’s beautiful earth 
and sky, then quickly wrapped up his eyes again. 
Paul gave no cry when the sharp needle pene- 
trated the eye, and he only sighed softly, “ Ah ! 
my mother ! ” The operation was successful. 

The next day, the physician allowed Emma, as 
a reward for her kindness to the boy, to take off 
the bandage a few moments. Paul trembled from 
head to foot, when the first ray of light fell into 
his opened eyes, and he exclaimed: “Now I am 
in heaven, and the night is over ! ” And when at 
last he saw the golden sun veiled in a thin silver 
cloud, he cried out, “ That is the eye of God ! ” 


THE BLIND CHILD. 


39 


When he saw the blooming Emma, standing near 
him, he said : “ You are God’s angel !” But his 
eyes had to be bandaged again ; it was the phy- 
sician’s orders. 

The fever of the mother was broken up by the 
care and skill of the physician ; but the sick 
woman was obliged to keep her bed a week, and 
only grew strong, gradually. The separation from 
her child troubled her so, that she could not get 
perfectly well, although the physician repeatedly 
assured her that he was well taken care of, and 
she should see him again, when she had a little 
more strength. Ah ! that seemed so long to the 
mother’s heart. 

It was a beautiful spring morning, the mother 
had just arisen, and walked slowly through the 
room, when Emma, who had dressed the boy in 
pretty, new clothes, led him into the house where 
his mother dwelt. She came up the steep stone 


40 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


steps with him, opened the room door gently, and 
pushed him in. His mother stood, with her back 
towards the window, praying. She had not no- 
ticed his entrance, and little Paul stood shyly by 
the door; every thing seemed strange to him. 
He did not even recognize his own mother. But 
the dog sprang, barking, to meet him, and then 
his mother looked round. 

“ My Paul ! ” she cried, as she saw her child : 
and Paul, when he recognized his mother by the 
voice, rushed into her arms. His mother em- 
braced and kissed him, and when she looked 
lovingly into his face, she cried out, with trem- 
bling voice, “ Great Heaven, he sees ! ” 

u I am in heaven now ! ” shouted the boy ; 
“ I have seen God’s eye, and his holy angel, and 
the night is passed ! ” 

Overpowered with joy and happiness, the 
mother sank on her knees and lifted her folded 


THE BLIND CHILD. 


41 


hands : little Paul, too, raised liis hands to heaven, 
as his mother had formerly taught him, and both 
prayed a prayer without words ; but a wordless 
prayer penetrates into the highest heaven. And 
then it seemed to the happy mother, that she 
heard from the distant sky, a voice, saying : u God 
never forgets his children.” They were the last 
words of her dying husband. 

Then tears flowed from her eyes, and refreshed 
her heart, overburdened with happiness. When 
little Paul saw his mother weeping, the first tear 
fell from his just opened eyes, and that was a tear 
of joy. 

Thou, good Paul ! May all the tears which 
thou weepest on this earth, be pure tears of joy ! 


BACK’S SHADOW. 


From a house, in a little village, a long iron 
pole extended, on which three yellow, shining 
basins hung, which the wind shook hither and 
thither. That was a sign, that a barber lived in 
the house, and the yellow basins meant to say, 
that if people came in, they could have their 
beards shaved off, for a little money. 

But he was a very unskilful barber who lived 
there ; that, every one knew, who had ever come 
under his dull razor. However, there was no 
other in the town, so the people must go to his 
shop, if they did not want to go about with rough, 
bristling beards, which was not there, the fashion 



NACK’S SHADOW 




















































. 






























c V.. 







































































































back’s shadow. 


43 


among neat people. So, whoever came out of the 
barber’s shop, looked as red as a boiled crab, and 
his face was full of cuts and scratches. They 
called the unskilful barber, on that account, the 
Shaver . Few knew his rightful name, and most 
of them supposed he was called so, and spoke to 
him by that name. But he was quite angry when 
they called him Mr. Shaver. 

The barber had a son by the name of Nack ; 
he was a very wdld, naughty boy — a real, good- 
for-nothing fellow. He ran round the streets all 
day long without doing any thing ; and, idleness 
is the beginning of mischief! N ack thought of 
nothing else, but playing tricks on people. If he 
was at home, when any one sat down to be shaved, 
he would place himself at his side, and draw his 
face so awry, and make such shocking grimaces 
that the person who was being shaved was obliged 
to laugh ; and dash ! the razor went into his skin, 


44 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


so that the red blood poured down on the shaving 
cloth under his chin. 

He played pranks in and out of the house ; 
there was scarcely a solitary person in the town 
on whom Hack had not played some trick. It 
was so well known, that every one who expe- 
rienced such a joke, thought at once of Hack, 
and said, That must have been the Shaver’s Hack; 
and so, at last, they called such a trick a Shaver’s 
Knack, or, as we say, a “ Shaver’s Trick.” 

In the same house, directly below the barber, 
there lived a learned man. They called him the 
Star-gazer, because he always looked at the stars. 
Many thought he was a sorcerer ; and he might 
have been a bit of one, for he knew every eclipse 
of the sun or moon, to a minute, a year before 
it cam?; and also projohesied about the stars, 
whether the summer would be wet or dry, the 
winter cold or warm, and whether the season 


hack’s shadow. 


45 


would be fruitful or unfruitful ; and that could 
not be done by any natural means. This Star- 
gazer lived in a small garret, directly under the 
.eaves, like most learned men ; he lived so high up 
to be a little nearer to the stars. 

That wicked Hack had already played many 
tricks upon him ; and now he thought of a new 
one. The Star-gazer had many wonderful instru- 
ments in his room, standing and lying about, 
which I do not know how to call by name. He 
used them for his star-gazing. Among the rest, 
a telescope stood there, as large and thick as a 
cannon. It could not stand upright in the little 
chamber, so he had a hole made in the ceiling 
above, and in the roof of the garret, through 
which he could push the telescope, when he 
wanted to look at the stars. 

Once, when he stood below gazing at the 
moon, Hack, who had noticed it, slipped softly 


46 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


under the eaves, and pushed his hand, gradually, 
before the glass. The Star-gazer was astonished 
when he saw the moon darkened, and that, too, 
on the wrong side ! He rubbed his eyes, and 
looked through the glass once more — now the 
moon had entirely disappeared. 

“ This is a wonderful and unheard-of phenom- 
enon, quite against all rules ! That ought not to 
happen ! That is an aberration, a great error, 
which has never been before, and which we can- 
not allow ! I must write an article about it ; it 
will make a sensation among the astronomers ! ” 

So the Star-gazer spoke in his enthusiasm, and 
Nack, who heard him through the hole in the 
ceiling, could not refrain from a slight giggling. 

“ Ah, is it you ? ” said the Star-gazer, who had 
heard the laughing. “ Now wait, we must speak 
a few words to each other but Nack had run 
away, long before he came up. 


back’s shadow. 


47 


“ He will be back again ! ” thought the Star- 
gazer, so he arranged an ingenious kind of trap, 
which, outwardly, looked like an ordinary chest. 
He placed this in the garret, so that one was 
obliged to step on it, to come to the opening. So 
when it was again full moon, he thrust the tele- 
scope once more, through the aperture, to gaze at 
the moon. 

Nack, who was on the watch, wished to make 
another artful eclipse of the moon, and crept up 
there. But when he stept on the chest — crick, 
crack ! a plank snapped ; the trap fell ; and he 
was caught in the chest. The cover fell so quickly 
that Nack’s shadow, which the moon had thrown 
on the wall, had not time to go into the chest with 
him ; only the lifeless body was shut in, and the 
living. shadow was left out. Nack’s shadow tried 
in vain, to lift the cover, to join his body, but the 
cover was too heavy, he could not do it ; besides, 


48 


NEW FAIEY STOEIES. 


lie heard the Star-gazer coming, and thought it 
was not advisable to wait any longer, then crept 
slowly, without any body, out of the little window 
in the roof, and along the top of the house. 

The Star-gazer came in, with a heavy stick in 
his hand, and lifted the cover of the chest, to give 
Nack a lecture ; but, good heavens ! there lay 
Nack’s inanimate body in the chest, as cold and 
hard as a marble statue. 

u Just heaven ! what have I done ? ” cried the 
terrified star-gazer in his distress. “ I did not wish 
to do that ! They will say now that I have mur- 
dered ISTack, and will put me in prison and execute 
me as a criminal! I am a poor afflicted man! 
Where shall I turn in my distress ? ” 

For a long while, he did not know what to do, 
but at last he decided to lay Nack’s body in an 
empty chest, which lay beneath many other 
trunks and boxes in the garret, close the cover, 


hack’s shadow. 


49 


and push it, far away, in a dark corner, under the 
eaves, where they could not easily find it. 

back’s shadow, in fear of the Star-gazer, had 
run away across the roofs, and had jumped on a 
low-roofed house, and from that, down into the 
street. He was full of vivacity, he felt so light, 
because he did not have to carry his heavy body 
about with him, and he made such springs as he 
never did before. u This will be a merry life,” 
said he ; “ now it will begin ; I do not need my 
body to enjoy myself ; I can make fools now of all 
the world, without their finding me out and beat- 
ing me black and blue ! ” 

So he thought, and he gave a few leaps for 
joy, and danced down the street ; he was as light 
as a feather. Far down in the street below, he 
heard the noise of a troop of boys. They played 
at soldiers, and one marched behind the other, and 

they were full of fun, and shouted when they saw 
3 


50 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


their shadows on the wall marching with them. 
But the company became still larger in that way. 
Nack mingled with them, first here and then 
there, placed himself as an officer at their head, 
and commanded — March ! one, two ! one, two ! 

It went on, for a time, till the boys saw that 
there was one shadow too many amongst them ; 
then a panic seized them, they threw the sticks 
away, which they had used as muskets, and ran 
off, shrieking. Nack laughed aloud, and chased 
them through several streets. 

But as he ran, jumping by the walls and 
houses, two dogs came running after him; and 
followed and chased him, and one seized him by 
his cloak and — rip, rap ! — tore the whole back of 
it off. Nack was obliged to make wonderful 
springs to escape the dogs, that they did not tear 
his bones to pieces notwithstanding they were so 
light, for the shadow was as thin and delicate as 


back’s shadow. 


51 


a cobweb. He did not worry about that, as be 
bad fortunately escaped tbe dogs ; and be amused 
himself tbe whole night, and set tbe village in an 
uproar. He rang all tbe bells, and awakened 
people from their sleep ; when they came to tbe 
window, to look out, be was gone ; or he stood in 
tbe shadow of a bouse, so they could not see him. 
At other places, be would bark like a dog or mew 
like a cat, and make all tbe cats and dogs rebel- 
lious, so that the whole night long nobody could 
close their eyes, for tbe cat and dog barking and 
noise, and tbe ringing of bells. “ That certainly 
must be tbe Shaver’s Nack,” they all said, but 
nobody bad a glimpse of him. 

At last, be was tired, and lay down in a corner 
to sleep, where nobody could see him. He awoke 
when tbe sun bad been up for some time, and 
wished to begin bis frolicking again. But be 
was so hungry, that be wanted something to eat, 


52 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


first. But where should he procure it ? As he 
was only a shadow, he could only eat shadow 
food. So he placed himself at the corner of a 
street, and when a boy came by, with his bread 
and butter in his hand on the way to school, he 
snatched the shadow of the bread away from him, 
and ate it up. The bread and butter was, by 
that means, quite hard and tasteless, like a bit of 
leather, and the poor schoolboy almost bit his 
teeth out, and was not satisfied. It was still 
easier, about drinking ; he placed himself near the 
fountain, and drank the shadow of the water 
drops. 

So the shadow Nack played many days and 
nights, and did nothing but silly things; he al- 
ways remembered that they did not see him, but 
he took care to avoid the dogs ; they always gave 
chase whenever they saw him. And every one, 
on whom he played a trick, said, “ That must cer- 


hack’s shadow. 


53 


tainly be the Shaver’s Nack but no one could 
find ISTack. To be sure his father missed him, 
but he thought nothing of it ; he supposed Nack 
had run away, and was glad to get rid of him so 
easily. 

By and by, the boys began to think that it 
was Nack who had so often cheated and ill-treated 
them. At last they lost all fear of him, and once 
when he, by mistake, let them see him, they all 
fell upon him in a body, and chased him. One 
evening, a crowd of boys, who had discovered 
him, chased him in the moonlight. Nack wanted 
to run round the corner of a house ; the house had 
been painted that very day, and the paint was 
not dry. Nack, who carelessly thought he could 
slip by, with one spring, touched the wet wall 
with his leg, and remained fastened there. The 
more he tried to get free, the firmer he remained 
there, and his whole shadow was glued to the 


54 NEW FAIRY STORIES. 

wall, like a piece of thin paper. He could not 
move nor stir! Then the boys brought stones 
and threw at him, and soon the shadow was so 
full of holes, that they could see the white wall 
through them. All his screams and complaining 
did not help him, and only when clouds passed 
over the moon, and the shadow became invisible, 
the boys stopped throwing stones. 

There poor Nack hung, like a target full of 
holes, and could not move. He hung there 
through the night-; and when the sun shone the 
next morning, and dried the walls of the house, 
he could gradually get free; and he had to do 
that very carefully, that he might not be torn in 
pieces. 

Noonday was the worst time for Nack, when 
the sun shone perpendicularly over his shoulders. 
He suffered much then, and had a shocking cramp, 
and was forced to double himself up in his dis- 


hack's shadow. 


55 


tress, till lie looked like a crooked dwarf. So lie 
usually passed tke day, in some dark corner. On 
tliat account, the early morning and the evening 
hours were pleasantest to him, for then he enjoyed 
life. He seemed as if he would stretch himself 
out to the size of a giant, and be as tall as a 
house. He peeped into the highest windows, and 
looking into the room cried out, “ Get up, you 
sleepy rats ; good morning to you ! ” So that the 
children screamed aloud, in their terror, when 
they saw his black face at the window. And he 
did the same at night: “ Go to sleep, you monkeys,” 
he would cry out, and then the children crept 
under the bed-clothes in fear, and sweat as if they 
had drunk elder-flower tea ; but they could not 
go to sleep so soon ! 

One day Nack slipt into an alehouse ; it was 
towards evening, which time he usually chose, 
because his shadow was not so easily seen in 


56 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


the twilight. He mingled among the guests, who 
sat at different tables, playing cards and drinking 
beer ; then he commenced his mischievous pranks. 
He would pull this one, or the other, by the nose 
or the hair ; pull the cards away from one, and 
upset the beer-glass of another. Every one sup- 
posed his neighbor had done the mischief, and 
blamed him, till they quarrelled with each other, 
and from words came to blows. Each one struck 
at his neighbor, and in the darkness that reigned 
in the room, no one could see where he hit. Hack 
stood at one side, and almost laughed himself to 
death. 

Then the landlord brought in a light. All 
lifted their eyes to the bright reflection, and there 
stood Hack’s shadow, plainly revealed on the 
wall. One person recognized him, and all cried 
out, “ Have you played us a Shaver’s trick? Wait 
a minute, we’ll pay you for it ! ” 


hack’s shadow. 


57 


And they rushed to the unlucky shadow ; one 
grasped him by the hair, as if he would pull it 
out, by one jerk ; another tore his clothes from 
his body ; another flew at him with his fists ; two 
of the men who had rushed upon him, had seized 
him by the leg, and they would have torn him 
almost in pieces, but fortunately the light was 
overturned on the table, so that it was dark again, 
in the room, or else they would have torn him in 
halves, and who knows what might have become 
of him ? They ran for a light, but before that 
came, ISTack had scrambled out of the door. 

How did he look now ? It was a pitiful sight ! 
All the hair was torn from his head, his clothes 
hung in tatters around him, and his body was 
almost divided ; and he looked as if he were on 
stilts, his legs were so long. He was ashamed of 
his own shadow, and crept through a trap-door 


58 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


into a dark cellar, so that he need not he seen 
any more. 

Before it was scarcely light, the next morning, 
he crept ont and glided to a house where a tailor 
lived ; there he stole a skein of thread and a nee- 
dle, through the open window, to sew his dilapi- 
dated body together. When he began his patch- 
ing, he found that he had stolen white thread in- 
stead of black, in his hurry, so that the white 
stitches looked quite oddly on the black shadow. 
He did not mind that at all. He could now 
glide about as he did before, without his long legs 
shaking beneath him. 

The many trials which Nack had been obliged 
to undergo, since he became a shadow, had tired 
him of shadow life, and he had become quite dis- 
gusted with it. “ It does not suit me any longer,” 
he sighed ; “ I thought I could lead a free and 
merry life without a body, but it is still worse, 


nack's shadow. 


59 


than if I had one ; on account of the blows and 
wounds, that will not heal ; with no hair on my 
head ; and only a few rags on me, that will not 
•keep me warm at night. And all this misery 
is owing to that wicked Star-gazer, who has de- 
stroyed my body by his cruel magic. Only wait, 
you old wizard, and you will have to take it.” 

So Nack thought, as he prepared to take his 
revenge on the Star-gazer. Since he had been 
merely a shadow, he had not ventured to go near 
the Star-gazer, he was so much afraid of him, be- 
cause he thought him a sorcerer of a wizard, and 
so he quite avoided his father’s house. Now he 
limped towards home, he crept up the garret 
stairs, and went through the open door, with the 
intention of breaking all the instruments to pieces, 
which he found there. The morn gave him light 
for his work, and he commenced. Spy-glasses, 
globes, and every thing of the kind, he destroyed. 


60 


NEW EAIEY STORIES. 


At last, lie found tlie chest, in which his body 
was hidden. “ There must be something costly in 
there,” he thought, “ because it is shut so tight ! ” 
He broke the lock, and lifted the cover. - 
Whisk ! his shadow slipped in, as if it had been 
pushed there by force ; and as soon as it was in, 
the dead body (which now had its shadow again) 
received new life ; he arose and rubbed his eyes ; 
it seemed exactly as if he had been dreaming. 

Just as he was coming out of the chest, the 
Star-gazer entered the door. The noise and tu- 
mult in the garret had awakened him from his 
slumber, and he came out to see what it was. As 
Hack stood living before him, he was beside him- 
self with joy. He clasped him in his arms, and 
cried, over and over again : “ Hack, you are alive ! 
Hack, you are alive ! and I am not a murderer ! 
Oh, I am a happy man ! ” 

But Hack, since he had received his body 


HACKS SHADOW. 


61 


again, was entirely changed. He saw what a had 
life he had previously led, and felt that it ought 
to he different ; he said so to the Star-gazer. He 
was so delighted, that he embraced him, and said, 
“ Nack, if that is your solemn resolve, you shall 
he my child, from this time forth. I will instruct 
you in my science of astronomy, so that you will 
he a learned man, and hy and hy have a fortune.” 

“ Agreed, sir ! ” said black ; and he kept his 
word. He sat from morning till evening in the 
room of the Star-gazer, over his hooks: and though 
learning was very difficult to him at first, he soon 
became accustomed to it, and it was a pleasure 
to him. He kept the most difficult reckoning, 
ancf calculated eclipses with his teacher, and was 
a great scholar. He was so anxious to advance in 
the sciences, that he hardly ever left the study, 
so that the Star-gazer found it necessary to go 
out with him sometimes, that he should not sit 


62 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


too long, and grow ill. He never ventured out in 
the sunlight, or the moonlight, for he was horri- 
fied at his shadow, which was so bald-headed and 
torn, and patched up and disfigured with white 
stitches, when it ran along by his side. 

Hack died long ago ; but even to this day, 
when a person plays a mean trick on another, they 
say, “ He practised the Shaver’s Knack on him.” 
Learned linguists do not know the origin of the 
term — but now, we know it. 


THE TWO FRIENDS. 


Once upon a time, in a solitary part of the 
country, there stood on the borders of a wood a 
fine large rose-bush. I don’t know how it came 
there, but there it was, and as no gardener came 
with his crooked knife and sharp shears to clip its 
boughs into fanciful shapes, according to his rules, 
it had grown up into a large shrub, and had spread 
out like a hazel-nut bush, and was covered with 
hundreds of splendid red roses, that were so fra- 
grant you could smell them far around in the 
neighborhood. It was a magnificent rose-bush ; 
you rarely saw such a fine one ! 

A nightingale had made her home in the rose- 


64 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


bush, because it was so delightful, living there 
under the blooming roses. The nightingale and 
the rose-bush were very fond of each other, and 
became such good friends, they could not live 
apart. 

It was so astonishing ! the nightingale spoke 
in melody, and the rose-bush by perfume, but they 
could understand each other perfectly, and were 
quite happy when they were conversing so, to- 
gether. In their joyousness, they often held sing- 
ing matches together. 

“ Praise be to thee, glorious month of May ! 
Thou bringest joy and flowers to the earth! 
Thou openest the heart and fillest it with love ! 
Praise be to thee, lovely month of May ! ” 

So sang the nightingale, when spring came; 
and the rose-bush sang, in fragrance, when June 
drew near : 

“ Praise be to thee, lovely summer month. 


THE TWO FRIENDS. 


65 


Thou bringest blessings to the earth ; thou pour- 
est out joy and wealth from the horn of plenty ; 
thou givest refreshment to the weak, and com- 
fortest the sorrowful ! Praise be to thee, lovely 
summer month ! ” 

So they sang in emulation of each other. 

One day the nightingale said to the rose-bush, 
u I should like to be at the emperor’s court, just 
for once. There is nothing there but gold and 
silver and precious stones ; and the most beauti- 
ful birds, collected together from all parts of the 
world; and they are so handsome and so well 
taught, that they can sing and speak as men do, 
so that you would not suppose they were only 
birds. My mother told me about it, for she flew 
by there, once.” 

“ Yes, certainly,” answered the rose-bush ; “ it 
must, indeed, be very beautiful at the court of 
the emperor, and the most splendid flowers bloom 


66 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


there, such as one can see nowhere else, and they 
dwell as men do, in the most singular houses made 
of glass. But it suits me here ! It seems to me, 
it is still more beautiful in the house of God, in 
the glorious freedom of nature. We are so 
happy here, why do we wish for any thing 
better ? ” 

While they were talking thus together, a man 
came creeping by, as lightly as a cat. He stayed 
lurking about, for some time, and it seemed as if 
he had some wicked design. He was a bird- 
catcher, and he had watched for the nightingale 
a long time. He put a trap under the rose-bush, 
and placed a few worms in it. When the night- 
ingale looked down and saw the worms strug- 
gling, she flew there, and suspected no harm ; for 
she was so good and innocent herself, that she 
never did any thing wrong. Clap! went the 
trap, and the poor nightingale was a prisoner. 


THE TWO EKIEHDS. 


67 


“ Now yon shall go to the emperor’s palace, 
because you sing so beautifully ! ” said the bird- 
catcher. “ I shall receive a great reward, and you 
will certainly be court singer. Do not forget me 
there ! ” 

Ah, it made the nightingale so unhappy to 
be separated from her friend, the rose-bush ! She 
would gladly have given all the emperor’s gold if 
she could have remained where she was. 

Then the bird-catcher saw the splendid rose- 
bush also, and he said : u You, too, can come 
with me. You can stand in the emperor’s gar- 
den, for I never saw such a magnificent rose-bush. 
There, you can make your fortune ! ” 

Then the man dug up the rose-bush by the 
roots, and carried that and the nightingale away, 
far away, to the court of the emperor. 

It was very grand there ! There was a great 
bird-house, that was built with slats of pure gold, 


68 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


and surrounded by a net of gold wire ; and little 
trees were planted in the house, but not real 
trees, they would have been too common ; they 
were artificial trees, that looked as natural as real 
ones. The stems were of mahogany, turned and 
polished ; and the leaves of green taffeta. 

The nightingale was put in there, and she was 
so troubled, when she saw the magnificence, and 
the splendidly arrayed birds, that perched there 
or fluttered about. 

There was a great sensation when the nightin- 
gale arrived. They all had so much curiosity ! 
A pair of pert canaries placed themselves near 
her, and said to each other, “ Just look there ! 
who can that be ? ” 

“ Some country girl ! ” said the other, imper- 
tinently ; “ one can tell that at once, by her scant, 
gray dress ! ” 


THE TWO FRIENDS. 


69 


Shall we endure it ? ” asked a spiteful gold- 
finch. 

A green parrot, who sat on a golden perch, 
examined the goldfinch on all sides, and said: 
41 Look here ! Can you speak French ? ” 44 Fri- 
pon ! Filou ! Coquin ! ” 

44 Ah, no,” she answered. 

44 Can you whistle the trumpeter’s tune ? ” a 
bullfinch asked. 

44 Ah, no ! ” said the nightingale. 

44 Can you draw water ? ” inquired a goldfinch, 
and drew some water for himself to drink, in a 
little bucket with a golden chain. 

44 Can you discharge a cannon and pretend to 
be dead ? ” said a canary. 

44 Ah, no, no ; I cannot do that,” answered the 
nightingale. 

44 What can you do, then ? ” they all asked at 


once. 


70 


NEW FAIEY STOEIES. 


“I can sing as onr dear Lord lias taught me, 
and as it comes from my heart ! ” answered the 
nightingale. 

a That is something great ! ” shrieked all the 
birds, and laughed aloud. 

“ Have you been presented at court ? And 
what do you want here, in the emperor’s palace ? ” 
the canary-bird continued ; for they are very bold. 

u Keep still, I am meditating,” said a great 
brown owl, that was swinging in a golden ring ; 
and a gray parrot sighed, “Ah, how short is 
life ! ” 

He was in affliction, that any one might see 
by his gray dress, and he looked quite grave and 
troubled. 

The wicked canary-birds and bullfinches 
would not be put out ; they came flying by and 
pecked and bit the poor nightingale, who sat 


THE TWO FKIENDS. 


71 


frightened on a tree, till the feathers flew around 
her. She did not know how to defend herself. 

Then from the ground a voice cried, u Submit 
to them ! — submit to them ! ” It was a quail, who 
called out. She sat crouched on the earth, half 
hidden in the sand, and the distress of the poor 
nightingale went to her heart. 

The nightingale flew to the ground,* and sat 
by her. The quail whispered softly to her : “Bow 
before them ; and remain here on the earth, and 
then they will let you alone. They have tried 
the same thing with me.” 

Now the doors were opened wide, and the 
emperor entered, leading the princess, his daugh- 
ter, by the hand. They came in to the golden 
aviary, and went from one bird to another, 
looked at it, and made it display its accomplish- 
ments. 

“ Ave, Caesar, Victor, Imperator ! ” shrieked a 


72 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


great black raven, who came to the court a short 
time before. 

“ Optime ! ” answered the emperor, for he 
went to the Latin school when he was young, and 
he wanted to show that he had learned some- 
thing. The flattering welcome pleased him so 
much, that he stroked the raven with one hand 
and hung a golden medal around his neck. 

Then he came to the gray parrot. “Ah! 
how short is our life ! ” said the parrot, hoping 
he should receive a medal too. 

But the princess said to the emperor, “ Can- 
not he say any thing else, papa \ It makes me 
so sad, and makes me think about dying, and 
that is not proper for a princess.” 

“ Be quiet, I am meditating ! ” said the solemn 
owl, who wore a great golden order around his 
neck. 

“We certainly know that,” answered the em- 


THE TWO FRIENDS. 


73 


peror, and then the bullfinch piped up the trum- 
peter’s piece. 

“ Fripon ! Filou ! Coquin ! ” cried out the 
green parrot, insolently, to the emperor, when he 
came near him. 

“You!” said the emperor, and threatened 
him with his finger. 

The two canaries flew to the finger of the 
princess, and flattered and caressed her like a 
couple of kittens, and she let them each take a 
lump of sugar from her lips. 

“ Here is the new bird, which they call the 
nightingale,” said the minister who had charge of 
the bird, with a low bow. “ I do not know what 
it has learned, for it has not let itself be heard. 
It only waits your majesty’s orders.” 

“ Well, let me hear then, what you can do,” 
said the emperor to the nightingale. 

The startled nightingale flew up from the 


74 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


ground, sat on tlie tree, and sang a beautiful 
song. 

“ Papa,” said the princess, “ she sings exactly 
like the birds in the woods, it is so ordinary and 
so countrified. She is entirely without cultiva- 
tion.” 

The nightingale trilled her loveliest song. 
Then the princess put her hands to her ears, and 
cried to the court ladies, u My smelling-bottle ! 
my smelling-bottle ! ” The poor princess almost 
fainted away, the trilling of the nightingale had 
so shaken her delicate nerves. 

But the emperor said: “You have a good 
voice, only a little too powerful; you are still 
quite rude and uncultivated; perhaps we can 
make something of you.” 

Then he beckoned to the minister, and said to 
him, “ Take her home with you, and try to bring 
her forward, and get something out of her, either 


THE TWO FRIENDS. 


75 


‘ Ah du lieber Augustin,’ or else some fashionable 
song.” 

The minister put the nightingale into a dark, 
narrow cage, and hung it near his table on the 
wall ; then set a small hand* organ on the table, 
and played twice every hour, “ Ah du lieber Au- 
gustin.” He even did the same thing in the night, 
for he could not sleep, on account of his min- 
isterial cares. The nightingale took every pains 
to imitate the song ; she would have been so glad 
to please the emperor, but she could not succeed 
in doing it, for when she had sung half a measure, 
she would relapse into her old song, that she had 
sung from her youth, for she would think of her 
dear rose-bush and their happy life together ; and 
then the tedious instruction was forgotten at once. 
The minister perspired with distress and vexa- 
tion, but he turned the organ unceasingly, so that 
his arm at last became quite numb. 


76 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


When two months had passed, and the em- 
peror asked again about the nightingale, the 
minister answered, trembling, before the displeas- 
ure of his master : “ The nightingale must be very- 
stupid, for she has not understood the least thing.” 

“ Then let her fly,” said the emperor, who was 
in a very pleasant mood ; “ we have foreign birds 
enough that are easily taught, but those from the 
country are certainly not.” If he had not been in 
good humor, be would have taken her head off, or 
have hanged her and the minister, at the same 
time. 

Who was happier now, than the minister, who 
was no longer obliged to grind the hand-organ ? 
He opened the cage, and the nightingale flew out. 
She had grown quite thin, from hard study. 

But how has it fared with the rose-bush, from 
whom we have heard nothing so long ? W ell, we 
shall see ! 


THE TWO FRIENDS. 


11 

All ! the sufferings of the poor rose-bush had 
been far greater, than those of the nightingale ! 
The emperor’s gardener looked at it on all sides, 
and said : “ It belongs to a good species of rose ; 
but, good heavens ! how wild and uncultivated. 
The skill of the gardener cannot be seen in it ; it 
is as rough as the bushes that grow in the wilder- 
ness. But perhaps something can be made of it. 
It is strong and hardy.” 

So he took his knife and cut all the beautiful 
twigs and branches close to the stem, and let only 
two little twigs remain on the top, for the beauti- 
ful rose-bush was to be trained into a tree. The 
poor rose-bush ! They placed it in a handsome 
flower-pot, and bound the stalk so tightly to a 
stick that it could hardly breathe ; then they car- 
ried it into a glass house. The proud flowers that 
stood there looked down with scorn upon it, or 
did not deign to give it a glance ; it was too vul- 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


78 

gar — the rose-bush was treated exactly as the 
nightingale had been. 

Ah ! how it hurt the poor rose-bush when the 
branches were cut off, and how painful its many 
wounds were ! So it passed many melancholy 
days in the hot-house, where it was always so op- 
pressively warm, for no sweet dew from heaven, 
and no refreshing rain, could penetrate through 
the glass walls, and where one could not tell 
whether it was the morning or evening sunshine. 
How it longed to be out! And how often it 
thought of its friend, from whom it had not heard 
for a long time, and whom it considered dead. 

The only amusement that it had, was looking 
through the glass windows out into the garden. 
And that was a splendid garden ! The bushes all 
stood in rank and file like soldiers, and were 
trimmed with the shears till they looked like 
high green walls ; the trees were twisted into all 


THE TWO FRIENDS. 


19 

sorts of shapes, and made to resemble pyramids 
and vases, and lions, and men and women, with 
long dresses. It was astonishing ! And the rose- 
bush would have laughed, if it had not been so 
sad, and had not suffered so much pain from its 
many wounds. 

So a few months passed away, and the rose- 
bush grew weaker and fainter, and let the few 
leaves and flowers which it still kept, hang droop- 
ing, or fall off entirely. The gardener visited it 
sometimes, and watered it, or put healing-plaster 
on its wounds. At nlast, he shook his head and 
said, “ Nothing can be made of you, and you only 
take the place of other plants.” So he tore it 
from the earth, and threw it out onto a dust-heap 
in a corner of the court-yard. 

The poor rose-bush lay there many hours, al- 
most fainting, in the sun ; when her friend, the 
nightingale, who had just received its freedom, 


80 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


flew over the court-yard, and alighted on an elder- 
bush which stood there. Her joy over her newly 
gained liberty was so great that she hardly com- 
prehended it. It seemed a dream to her; she 
required a little time to be certain of her hap- 
piness. 

She saw the cold stalk of the rose-bush ly- 
ing in the court-yard, and she recognized her ill- 
used friend. It looked so pitifully, that it re- 
quired the sharp eye of a friend to recognize it ; 
but she did know it, and its misery went to her 
heart. Hesitating but a moment, she seized the 
slight stalk in her bill, lifted it from the earth, and 
flew away with it, ov^r^nountain and valley, far 
away, to her old When she came to any 

water, she flew down and dipped the stalk in it, 
that it might be a little refreshed, and not faint 
away entirely. 

So the true friend bore her half-dead com- 


THE TWO FRIENDS. 


81 


panion to the place where they had both formerly 
lived, and were so happy ; and as the hole was 
still left lying open, whence the bird-fancier had 
taken the rose-bush, she laid the bush in it again, 
and scraped the earth round the roots, with her 
claws. As much as thirty times a day, she flew 
to the spring, and brought a beakful of water, 
and sprinkled it on the rose-bush, and it gradually 
recovered and gained new strength, and threw 
out new leaves, and the fragrance of the first rose 
that blossomed, was to the praise of friendship 
and in thanks to her true friend. The next spring, 
the rose-bush had shot up again, its branches had 
expanded, and were covered with splendid crim- 
son roses, and it was again as fragrant as before. 
But the nightingale could not regain her former 
cheerfulness ; she was always sad, and did not sing 
as she did before, for she was ashamed that she 
was so ignorant, and that she could learn nothing. 


82 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


When the rose-bush petitioned for a song, she 
would only sing to her late in the evening, or at 
night, when every thing else was asleep. 

About this time, a youth came frequently into 
the wood, and walked about in the moonlight. 
He must have had some secret grief, for he sought 
the solitude, and was always so very sad. He 
knew the nightingale, and the rose-bush in which 
she sat ; and he often listened attentively when 
she sang her nightly song to her friend. At last 
the youth came every evening, and he built a seat 
for himself of green moss, beneath the rose-bush ; 
and he often sat there an hour, in contemplation, 
and would not stir, for fear of disturbing the 
nightingale. 

The nightingale was no longer in fear of him, 
but sang on, for she saw that her song gave him 
comfort. 

One evening the youth came not alone. A 


THE TWO FEIENDS. 


83 


beautiful and noble lady was at his side ; they sat 
on the moss bank, and the youth gathered the 
loveliest rose, and wreathed it in the brown curls 
of the maiden. Ah ! it was so beautiful there. 
The moon shone bright and clear, and shed her 
silver light over the landscape. The rose-bush 
glittered, and poured out its sweetest fragrance ; 
the nightingale trilled, and sang in melting tones ! 

Then the eyes of the maiden were filled with 
tears, and the youth looked into her glistening 
eyes, and pressed her hand, then passed his arm 
around her, and pressed the first kiss of love on 
her lips. 

Then the nightingale was filled with rapture, 
and she trilled from the depths of her heart, her 
most beautiful song, full of love and longing. 
But alas ! she had so overtasked herself, that her 
little tuneful heart burst, and she fell dying on 
the earth. 


84 


NEW FAIRY STORIES. 


The youth and the young maiden did not ob- 
serve, that the nightingale was silent, they were 
too blissful and' happy ; but the rose-bush saw her 
friend drop and fall dead, and it strewed fragrant 
leaves over her, and covered her with a heap of 
roses. 

The next morning a glittering tear hung on 
each rose, but they had lost all their crimson 
color in the night, and were quite pale with sor- 
row, and no longer poured out their fragrance as 
before. 

The descendants of the rose-bush still grieve 
over the friends, who were parted, and even to 
this day, they wear the paleness of woe. 

You have certainly sometimes seen white 
roses? Well, they are the children and grand- 
children of the rose-bush that sorrowed so for its 
friend. 

THE END. 


APii.15.i861. 


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